GUELPH — Defence lawyers in Guelph drug cases have a new card to play if prosecutors are relying on the work of a disgraced constable.

Proof that investigations touched by narcotics officer Chris Panylo are tainted came earlier this week when charges were dismissed against three people charged after a 2010 raid at the Medical Marijuana Centre of Guelph.

Panylo, a drug enforcement officer struggling with his own substance abuse issues, pleaded guilty in May to stealing methadone seized in another police probe. He was sentenced last month to probation for two years, 100 hours of community service and fined $1,000.

He’s currently under a disciplinary Police Services Act investigation resulting from the guilty plea.

Shemesh is the lawyer who defended the medical marijuana centre’s corporation and founder. She said she took great interest in Panylo’s drug conviction and raised this at a judicial pretrial hearing, emphasizing how embarrassing it would be for the officer, whose affidavit formed the basis of the original search warrant, to be called to the witness box.

What followed, Shemesh said, was Tuesday’s resolution with the Crown.

Local criminal lawyer Matt Stanley said Panylo’s involvement in court cases would be something attorneys would look into in defending their clients.

“It would certainly be something that would be taken into consideration,” Stanley said.

Prosecutors did not immediately return phone inquiries for comment Thursday but Tuesday outside court federal prosecutor David Doney said Panylo’s “difficulties were a relevant consideration” in the marijuana club charges being dismissed against individuals.

“Obviously, it does create potentially some impact,” Guelph Police Service Chief Bryan Larkin said Thursday in a telephone interview, adding police have notified provincial and federal Crowns of Tuesday’s Medical Marijuana Centre of Guelph court decision.

Also asked if Panylo has compromised other police investigations and Crown cases, or might in future, Larkin said he couldn’t speculate at this point with the Police Services Act probe under way. Police are to conclude that probe within 120 days of Panylo’s conviction in early October.

“We have to do our due diligence,” he said.

Ultimately, Larkin said, any decisions on whether to proceed with court cases are up to Crown prosecutors.

On Tuesday, Justice Bruce Durno dismissed more than a dozen trafficking-related charges against the “compassion club” founder and director, as well as two employees that stemmed from execution of a search warrant in several Guelph locations in 2010, in which more than $150,000 in pot was seized.

The club itself was fined $10,000 Tuesday when the corporation, through founder Rade Kovacevic, pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of more than three kilograms for the purpose of trafficking.